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tlhIngan Hol mu'ghom:A Guide to Klingon/comparatives
Comparatives There are no Klingon equivalents to the comparative adjectives (such as better, bigger, faster) that are used in English. Instead a complicated construction using the verbs law' (be many) and puS (be few) are used, together with a verb of quality. Okrand describes it using this formula: A Q law' B Q puS A and B are nouns or pronouns, the things to be compared. Q is any verb of quality (such as be good QaQ or be big tIn). For example, I want to say I am cleverer than the boy. Then A'' is ''I (jIH) and B''' is boy ('''loDHom). The verb is be clever (val). The sentence is then: * jIH val law' loDHom val puS. It can be thought as of two sentences: * I am more clever. * The boy is less clever. Here are a few more examples: Superlatives There are only two Klingon equivalents to the superlative adjectives of English: * HochHom - most * nIvqu' - best All the others (such as biggest or fastest) are formed using the comparative construction described above, but with Hoch replacing the second noun: A Q law' Hoch Q puS For example: * juHvam tIn law' Hoch tIn puS * This house is the biggest. You can think of it as: This house is bigger than all (the rest). Or as two sentences: This house is more big. and All (the rest) are less big. Numeric Comparisons This section is non-canonical, in that it has not been used by Okrand. It follows the grammar described by Okrand, who has not supplied an alternative. To say: I have less than 10 children, we can rephrase it as My children are less numerous, ten is more numerous. This implies that we can use the same construction, with the number as the second noun. The verb of quality is then puS (be few): * puqwI' puS law' wa'maH puS puS - I have less than 10 children. (Literally, something like My children are many fewer, 10 is less fewer.) Similarly, with law' as the verb of quality: * puqwI' law' law' wa'maH law' puS - I have more than 10 children. (Literally, something like My children are more many, 10 is less many.) And for superlatives, again we use Hoch: * puqwI' law' law' Hoch law' puS - I have the most children. * puqwI' puS law' Hoch puS puS or Hoch law' law' puqwI' law' puS - I have the least children. An Alternative Instead of using law' and puS in the formula, it is possible to use another pair of stative verbs, which are antonyms. The follwing are Okrand's examples. Each uses yoH (be brave) as the verb of quality (Q'''). In these first examples, one antonym is positive and represents '''law'; the other is negative and represents puS: * tlhIngan yoH HoS verengan yoH puj *: HoS (be strong); puS (be weak) *: A Q HoS B Q puS *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. * tlhIngan yoH pIv verengan yoH rop *: A Q pIv B Q rop *: pIv (be healthy); rop (be sick) *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. * tlhIngan yoH Daj verengan yoH qetlh *: A Q Daj B Q qetlh *: Daj (be interesting); qetlh (be dull) *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. In the next examples, the two verbs are neutral (according to Okrand). This means that they can be swapped around, without changing the meaning: * tlhIngan yoH jen verengan yoH 'eS * tlhIngan yoH 'eS verengan yoH jen *: jen (be high); 'eS (be low) *: A Q jen B Q 'eS / A Q 'eS B Q jen *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. * tlhIngan yoH ghegh verengan yoH Hab * tlhIngan yoH Hab verengan yoH ghegh *: ghegh (be rough); Hab (be smooth) *: A Q ghegh B Q Hab / A Q Hab B Q ghegh *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. In this example, Okrand explicitly states that the verbs cannot be swapped: * tlhIngan yoH Qatlh verengan yoH ngeD *: Qatlh (be difficult); ngeD (be easy) *: A Q Qatlh B Q ngeD *: The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi. And finally, an example of the superlative with Hoch: * tlhIngan yoH HoS Hoch yoH puj *: HoS (be strong); puS (be weak) *: A Q HoS Hoch Q puS *: Klingons are the bravest of all.